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Thursday, July 20, 2017

Rain birds

Early in June, a tropical storm system worked its way across the Florida peninsula, bringing buckets of rain plus thunder and a few tornadoes. One morning our walk was aborted even before we reached the entrance of our birding patch.  During a break in the precipitation, we drove to nearby Chapel Trail preserve but the rains came again and "spoiled" my photo of a Loggerhead Shrike along the boardwalk:

Loggerhead Shrike in rain 2-20170604

The next day, keeping a wary eye on the radar, we ventured out early into our local wetlands for a bit of exercise. Clouds hung low over the gravel road and lake.

That blue dot is Mary Lou, already far ahead of me (click for enlarged view):

Cloudy morning 20170605

Clouds over lake 20170605

This Common Gallinule may be breeding here,  the first one I have seen here over ten years of observations:

Common Gallinule 2-20170605

A Northern Cardinal's song brightened the morning:

Northern Cardinal 20170605

Mary Lou had completed the three-mile round trip before I reached the rookery at the far end of the road. I was anxious to learn whether any of the herons had nested successfully during our absence. It was gratifying to find fledglings of both Green Herons and Yellow-crowned Night-Herons. 

Skies were very dark when I took these photos--

A pair of night-herons:

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron pair 20170605

There was a third adult, plus this newly fledged juvenile Yellow-crowned Night-Heron:

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron juvenile 2-20170605

It was too dark to get a decent photo of a pair of Green Herons which were working to renovate their nest. It held 3 eggs when I photographed it on April 26, just before we left for Illinois:

Green Heron 3 eggs nest 6 20170424

Another pair of Green Herons at the opposite end of the rookery were watching over one of their progeny. I decreased exposure compensation to brighten the photo of this adult but it still looked gloomy:

Green Heron adult 20170605

Green Heron adult 2-20170605

It started drizzling just as I took a final photo of the juvenile Green Heron. It still had natal down on its head:

Green Heron fledgling 20170605

The next two days we had to be content with watching the wading birds from our back patio windows. A Snowy Egret found a school of tiny fish along the shore at the edge of our lawn:

Snowy Egret 03-20170605

Strike!

Snowy Egret splash 05-20170605

Success!

Snowy Egret with catch 04-20170605

A White Ibis reflected in the lake as it foraged along a neighbor's fence.

White Ibis 20170605


= = =  = = =  = = = =  = = = = =

Linking to Misty's  CAMERA CRITTERS,

Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,

Linking to FENCES AROUND THE WORLD by Gosia

Linking to SKYWATCH FRIDAY by Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy

Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James

Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni

Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart

Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) by NC Sue

Linking to ALL SEASONS by Jesh

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Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display

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29 comments:

  1. Amazing and gorgeous series, Kenneth! I feel as though I am right there with you seeing these spectacular and beautiful birds!

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  2. Great photos!
    Green Herons with their hunched over posture always look gloomy! But when they stretch out their amazingly long necks, they look entirely different.
    Love the Snowy Egret photos, and the reflection shot is wonderful!

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  3. Hello Nice shot of the White Ibis, and the reflection of the white fence in the water. Although quite dark, your images of the herons are beautiful.

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  4. I love that first photo of the shrike with the rain coming down. Well done, and great post!

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  5. What beautiful bird photography ~ love the next with 'robin's egg blue eggs' ~ ^_^

    a bit of lovely sky too ~

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  6. Perhaps the dark skies provided better lighting. Thanks for sharing these amazing photos

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  7. Lovely rainy day pictures. We left Ft Myers on June 5 and had solid rain for the three days before (while we packed the camper van) and 3 days after ... we were well past FL before we saw blue sky -- really different . I was not in the mood to appreciate rain just then even though I know it was needed.... but your pictures make it look lovely.

    I saw (and posted) a shrike when we were in Alabama.

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  8. beautiful photos...I really like the Strike freeze-action shot!

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  9. Great photos! I like the look of the rain drops.

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  10. Nice series. I epreally like the cardinal photo and the green heron eggs.

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  11. Phantastic pictures! The reflected fence makes a very intereting image composition.

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  12. Hello, I love the scenic shots and all the birds. The Night Herons are some of my favorites along with the egret. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend.

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  13. As always great photos. What a beatiful birds! And the eggs? What a beautiful blue!
    Congratulations, Mr. Kenneth!

    Manuel

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  14. Nothing "spoiled" here! Great shots! And how cool that the green heron has green eggs!

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  15. I have had both good birds and rain on my trip to the Northern Hemisphere. We had a Great Crested Grebe, with a perch in its beak swim under a bridge we were on today - of course it being in a city I had no bird lenses with me - thats the way it goes I suppose!

    Cheers - Stewart M - Geneva, Switzerland

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  16. Very lovely and colorful birds.

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  17. The Herons are all so beautiful. I still get excited to spot any of them and love seeing the young ones. We've had some nice rains here but it doesn't cool things down much, does it? Happy weekend!

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  18. Wonderful~~~~I enjoyed hiking in the rainy weather with you. {Wishing it would rain HERE) Wonderful photos Ken, and beautiful area along with the great bird shots. The nest with the eggs was a special treat. I also enjoyed reading your commentary....

    Thanks so much for joining us birders at I'd Rather B Birdin'.

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  19. Those are truly very beautiful photos! I am fascinated most by the blue eggs. And also am wondering why the photos seem to have matte finish, is that intentional or how does it happen? thanks.

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  20. Gorgeous photos. You must have had fun shooting them.
    Amalia
    xo

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  21. I love how the first photo caught the rain drops and I love the pretty blue eggs in the nest!

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  22. If I hadn't read your text I wouldn't have known the weather was that bad (have been through tornadoes in TX AND MO< so i know what that"s like) like your captures of the ibis successfully getting food:) Thanks so much for sharing all this beauty with All Seasons! Keep safe in these storms!

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  23. How awesome to find so many lovely creatures to photograph! I have to say the 'splash!' of the egret and its snack stand out to me with all the wonderful details you captured!

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  24. Thanks for sharing these lovely photos at http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2017/07/hhhhiiiiiiiisssssssss.html

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  25. I really enjoyed these pictures. That Shrike though, all that power in such a relatively small bird.

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  26. Your herons and egrets are spectacular!

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